We Will Hold Minister McKenzie Accountable for Failed Priorities

Statement by Leah Potgieter MP – DA Spokesperson on Sports, Arts and Culture:

The Democratic Alliance (DA) will hold Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie accountable for his continued failure to protect high-impact economic and sporting assets, while advancing costly decisions that communities have explicitly rejected.

The DA has formally written to the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Sport, Arts and Culture calling for Minister McKenzie to appear before Parliament to account for the loss of the World Surf League’s Corona Open in Jeffreys Bay. The DA will also further investigate the absence of national government support for key sporting events by engaging directly with affected stakeholders, municipalities, sporting bodies and local businesses.

Most recently, this failure is evident in the removal of the World Surf League’s Corona Open in Jeffreys Bay from the 2026 Championship Tour calendar. This iconic international event has, for decades, delivered sustained economic benefits to the Eastern Cape, supporting local businesses, creating jobs and placing Jeffreys Bay firmly on the global sporting map.

Minister McKenzie publicly assured South Africans that the event would be secured. However, when it was ultimately lost to New Zealand due to the absence of national government support, he denied responsibility and failed to provide a credible explanation for why his commitment was not honoured.

At the same time, the Minister has approved the renaming of several streets and towns in the Eastern Cape at significant public cost, despite similar proposals previously being withdrawn following community backlash. These decisions have proceeded despite clear objections raised during public participation processes, raising concerns about whether public input is being meaningfully respected.

Ironically, it was Minister McKenzie himself who previously rejected the original applications for these name changes, citing inadequate public consultation. His sudden reversal now exposes a troubling inconsistency in how public participation is treated, ignored when inconvenient and invoked only when politically expedient.

This pattern of conduct is not new.

The same Minister who failed to secure the Corona Open also:

• promised to bring Formula 1 to the country in 2026, claiming to have private financial backing that he refused to disclose to Parliament on so-called privacy grounds and without a viable feasibility study, only to later concede that the country is not ready to host the event,
• slashed funding to sporting federations and events to finance a proposed VAR system, a plan later rejected by National Treasury;
• cut funding to arts and cultural festivals worth hundreds of millions of rand through a process later acknowledged to be deeply flawed;
• failed to provide transparency regarding initiatives such as the Joslin Smith Foundation, which he claimed would be funded through his own salary but which remains unregistered.

Taken together, these actions reveal a Minister who makes grand promises without delivery, withdraws support from proven economic drivers and advances costly decisions without clear public support.

South Africans deserve a Minister who governs in the public interest, protects jobs and economic assets, and is accountable when commitments made to the public are not met.